History of Ballets Russes - Russian Ballet History Russian Ballet History The Collection's Beginings The History of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes 1909-1929 The Ballets Russes was a ballet company established in 1909 by the Russian impresario Serge Diaghilev. Diaghilev had already enjoyed success in Paris in 1908, when he presented a season of Russian art, music, and opera. He was invited back the following year to give a programme of Russian opera and ballet. The company was initially in resident at the Théâtre Mogador and Théâtre du Châtelet , in Paris years later moving to Monte Carlo. The company returned in 1910; in 1911 it was presented under Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and made its debut in London. Its' original members were from the Tsar's Imperial Ballet of St. Petersburg, Russia where all its dancers were associated and trained. The company consisted of 13 members, all attaining a very high standard of dance.

The company featured and premiered now-famous works by the great choreographers Marius Petipa , Michel Fokine, Bronislava Nijinska , Leonide Massine , Vaslav Nijinsky , and a young George Balanchine at the start of his career. It created a sensation in Western Europe because of the great vitality of Russian ballet compared to French dance. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes became one of the most influential ballet companies of the 20th century, in part because of its ground-breaking artistic collaboration among contemporary choreographers , composers , artists , and dancers. Its works were part of the avant-garde culture in Paris and France. In 1914, Leonide Massine joined Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. April 16th was the premiere of the one-act ballet, Papillons choreographed by Fokine. It was also the premiere of another of Fokine’s one-act ballet, La Légende de Joseph . Only a month later, May 24th was Fokine’s opera premiere Le Coq d'Or .

A few days later, on May 26, it was the premiere performance of Le Rossignol (The Nightingale) choreographed by Boris Romanov. Finishing off the summer season in June, Fokine premiered his newest choreographed piece, Midas. Video of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Diaghilev's Ballets Russes Comes To America - Fall of 1916-1917 Diaghilev's Ballets Russes came to American in 1916. That was the only tour that Diaghilev's Ballets Russes ever danced as a company in the United States. Their first performance was in New York. They opened on January 17, 1916 with The Firebird , La Princesse Enchantée , Le Soleil de Nuit and Schéhérezade . The American public, except those who travelled abroad, had never seen Russian ballet before. After that performance they toured sixteen towns, dancing in a different place each evening. The tour wound up back in New York on April 3, 1916, at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Nijinsky didn't join the tour until the second half, Leonide Massine had been dancing his roles. When Nijinsky turned up he was in bad spirits and out of practice. Trying to book the rest of the year, Diaghilev approached promoter Otto Kahn about another USA tour later in the year, Kahn stipulated that Nijinsky had to be included in the company. So Diaghilev had to agree to hand over the business end of the company to Kahn, while he and Grigoriev retired for the remainder of the year. But on April 29, 1916, just before the end of the season, Diaghilev received an invitation for the company to perform in Spain’s request. This opportunity filled the summer season for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes . On May 6th, they set sail back to Europe on the Dante Alighieri ship, loaded with a cargo of ammunition, horses and the Diaghilev Ballets Russes dancers . World War I was in full swing and, the main threat to their welfare while sailing home was from German submarines lurking off the Spanish coast.

Their first performance in Madrid was on May 26, 1916 at the command of King Alfonso. Lydia Lopokova enchanted everyone in Le Carnaval and Les Sylphides and Leonide Massine's Soleil de Nuit was well received. The King attended every remaining performance of the successful European season. On September, 8, 1916 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes set sail back to America for the second tour. Diaghilev and Grigoriev remained in Rome. Nicolas Kremnev was appointed as régisseur, under Nijinsky's management. Telegrams arrived daily to Diaghilev in Rome; the season was going badly with factions of the company falling out with each other. Nijinsky had composed a new ballet to Strauss's “Till Eulenspiegel”. Its first performance was October 23, 1916. It was a failure. This is the only ballet, in the history of Diaghilev’s company, that was not seen by Diaghilev.

The season finished with a large financial loss and the company's reputation was so damaged that the Ballets Russes was never able to appear in American ever again. Hall of Mirrors Performance in Versailles Palace Diaghilev's Ballets Russes performed Le Mariage D'Aurore or Aurora's Wedding in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Palace on June 30, 1923. The Final Season The final season for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was in 1929. The Ballets Russes performed in London and in Paris that year. On July 26th, 1929, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes gave its final performance at Covent Garden Theatre in London. Diaghilev died in Venice, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: Twenty Years That Changed the World of Art - Houghton Library - Harvard College Library Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, 1909-1929: Twenty Years That Changed the World of Art Previous Introduction Alexandre Benois (1870-1960).

Le Pavillon d’Armide, Costume design for King, Queen, and Servants, 1909. Watercolor, ink, and pencil. Howard D. Rothschild collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev. pf MS Thr 414.4 (31). Bequest, 1989. HOLLIS Catalog Entry . Finding Aid . The Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev claims a special position, even a unique one, in the history of the performing arts, in terms of a reawakening of interest in ballet in Europe and America, in bringing Russian culture to the attention of the rest of the Western world, and in presenting ballet as an equal partnership of movement, music, and visual design, in which all of the creative participants—composers, designers, and choreographers, as well as the inventors of plots and authors of scenarios—exerted an influence upon other aspects of their collaborative works.

While this was an enterprise that appealed especially to privileged and cultured populations in the largest cities, it exerted an influence on the future of ballet that extended far beyond those cities and endured beyond the impressive immediate accom­plish­ment of having presented some seventy individual ballets that were created and performed through the collab­ora­tion of many of the significant artists of the early years of the twentieth century. Serge Diaghilev was responsible for bringing together and providing important opportunities to such emerging creative artists of that time as Igor Stravinsky, Francis Poulenc, Serge Prokofiev, Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Giorgio de Chirico, and Joan Miró, as well as to a number of leading Russian painters, including Léon Bakst, Alexandre Benois, Nicholas Roerich, Alexander Golovine, Natalia Gon­charova, and Mikhail Larionov.

Many of the greatest Russian dancers, among them Vaslav Nijinsky, Michel Fokine, Adolph Bolm, Tamara Kar­savina, and Anna Pavlova, danced for Diaghilev; and he fostered the careers of many more dancers who were nurtured under the auspices of the Ballets Russes. It was Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, perhaps more than any other company, who was responsible for bringing back the prominence of the male dancer and for seizing upon the sensual possibilities of ballet. In him, management and admini­stration were elevated to a creative art. Especially in its earlier years, the Ballets Russes was grounded in Russian culture: amid a number of modernist, advanced works, Diaghilev brought out ballets based on traditional Russian themes, created by Russian-born artists, com­posers, and choreographers, and performed by dancers trained in Russia. Diaghilev also revived a number of representative ballets and operas from the nineteenth-century Russian tradition.

The Ballets Russes began on a small scale: the first season consisted only of a few weeks in Paris, with no immediate expectation of permanency; and the second season, limited to Paris and brief appearances in two other cities, was nearly as brief. It was the third season, in 1911, that brought the Ballets Russes to London, where it truly caught fire; from that time, performing now under Diaghilev’s own name, the company was eagerly followed and enthusiast­ically reported, as it grew in size, in repertory, in prestige, and in fashion. It could be said that in Diaghilev the role of the producer or impresario had become much like that of a curator. The Ballets Russes represented Diaghilev’s own aesthetic convictions and realized his own artistic intentions. Those personal con­victions and predilections were not permanent and un­changing, and they reflect­ed to some extent political and societal realities over those twenty turbulent and eventful years. But there was perhaps never quite a parallel circumstance in the history of the arts in which the tastes and personal influence of one person had such an effect on the future of the world of art.

The year 2009 was the centenary of the founding of the Ballets Russes. “The World of Art,” the phrase chosen for the exhibition’s title, is not only a broad declaration of the impact and influence of the Ballets Russes, but it is in fact a translation of the title of a periodical in support of modern art, “Mir Iskusstva,” which Diaghilev edited in St. Petersburg, and which first brought him recognition. The exhibition pays tribute to Diaghilev as a genius among impresarios and entre­preneurs, to the repertory of ballets that were created under his super­vision, and to the creators and performers whose collaboration brought them about. This exhibition also brings to life the beauty and impact of the celebrated works that resulted from the historic collaborative enterprise of the Ballets Russes. The exhibition was organized by the late Fredric Woodbridge Wilson, Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection from 1996 to 2010. Its more than 200 original documents and art works are drawn from the holdings of Houghton Library’s Harvard Theatre Collection.

It is intended that this exhibition should narrate—however episodically—the history of Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, the creation of the individual ballets, and the life of Diaghilev; and to convey to its audience some sense of why this artistic undertaking was uniquely celebrated in its time. Within the setting of a large research library, one that is freely available to and used by a worldwide community of scholars, our exhibitions have a separ­ate and parallel purpose. That purpose is to show, as persuasively as possible, the value of primary sources—manuscripts, art work, photographs, programs, and many other types of material—for historical research. In an exhibition on a subject upon which the Harvard Theatre Collec­tion contains such a wealth of material from which to draw, as in the present instance, we hope to show the possibilities for research that are uniquely available in the largest collections, in which items that were separately acquired, and which are often very different in their nature, can complement, supple­ment, and inform one another—photograph with design, design with letter, letter with manuscript, manuscript with portrait, and so on.

To foster future histor­ical research, or stage produc­tion, or artistic creativity, is the first purpose of collections like this one, and public exhibitions are often a most effective way to bring their holdings to the notice of those who are best able to make productive use of them. This exhibition is a collaborative and cooperative effort. The exhibition was researched, organized and written by Fredric Woodbridge Wilson, the late Curator of the Harvard Theatre Collection. Ric was generously assisted in the research and writing by Diana Limbach and Iris M. Fanger. He was also assisted in research by Irina Klyagin. Pamela Madsen and Thomas Horrocks edited Ric’s work and Luke Dennis prepared it for this digital format. Harvard College Library Imaging Services contributed the digitization and photography. We are most grateful to the many donors of collections and individual collection items that have been drawn upon in this exhibition, and for the funds that have been endowed by individual donors, which have been used to purchase items that are also shown in the exhibition. These donors and funds are acknowledged in the captions and labels that are associated with the individual items in the exhibition. Among the collections that have been included in the exhibition are the following: The Howard D.

Rothschild collection on Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev The Frederick R. Koch Collection The Stravinsky-Diaghilev Foundation Collection The A. J. and Tess Pischl Collection The Carl Taggersell Collection The John M. and Ruth N. Ward Collection The George Balanchine Archive The exhibition was supported by the fol­low­­ing endowed funds in the Harvard Theatre Collection: The Howard D. Rothschild Fund for the Ballets Russes of Serge Diaghilev The Beatrice, Benjamin, and Richard Bader Fund for the Visual Arts of the Theatre The Edmond de Rothschild Foundation Fund for Dance The Parmenia Migel Ekstrom Memorial Fund for Dance The Walter Terry Memorial Fund for Dance The John Kasdan Fund for Dance As well as a special gift from Mr. Melvin R. Seiden. Ballets Russes Archive Search Finding Aids History of the Ballets Russes On May 19, 1909, Sergei Diaghilev founded the Ballet Russe and launched his career as a ballet impresario. The roster included legendary artists such as Anna Pavlova, Vaslav Nijinski, and Tamara Karsavina.

Featuring two gifted choreographers, Mikhail Fokine and George Balanchine, the company shocked Western Europe with the force, color, skill, and originality of Russian dancing and continued to do so until disbanding following Diaghilev’s death in 1929. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo was founded in 1932 by Rene Blum and Col. Wassily de Basil. This company was known for its presentation of the “Baby Ballerinas”: Irina Baranova, Tamara Toumanova, and Tatiana Riabouchinska. In 1935, Blum severed his connection with de Basil and a legal struggle ensued. During this time, the company appeared under several different names. Having lost the rights to the ‘Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo’ name to Blum, de Basil changed the name of his company to the Original Ballet Russe and maintained touring in the United States, South America, and Australia. He died in 1951 and his dancers were disbanded soon after. Following the lawsuit, Blum retained choreographer Leon Massine. In 1937, Sergei J Denham and other investors bought Blum’s company.

At the advent of World War II, the company was based primarily out of the United States. The company disbanded in 1962. Photographs by Maurice Seymour, courtesy of Ronald Seymour. Ballets Russes Archive at the School of Dance at the University of Oklahoma As some former Ballets Russes dancers left their respective companies, they settled in many communities throughout the United States. Two of these dancers, husband and wife Miguel Terekhov and Yvonne Chouteau founded the University of Oklahoma School of Dance in 1961. In 2005, discussions began with School of Dance to donate some of their memorabilia. This launched the collection of material that eventually led to the founding of the Ballets Russes Archive in 2007. What began as a small amount of material has expanded to approximately 70 linear feet of information, with contributions from sixty-one individuals to date. The collections include contracts, correspondence, programs, clippings, diaries, scrapbooks, and photographs as well as video resources and ephemera. Collection of oral histories and transcripts of live interviews is ongoing.

The Ballet Russes Alexander Benois' setting for Stravinsky's "Petrouchka," Scene I The Ballet Russes by Jenny Gorman and Chris Sippel "There could not remain the slightest doubt in the spectators' mind that he found himself in the presence of an art, of a great, complete, important manifestation of the creative spirit of man."(1) Despite a mere 20 years in existence, the Ballets Russes undoubtedly changed the face of dance, and in fact, ushered in a new period of modernism. Among its productions were some of the first classics of the twentieth century and it was these performances which created unprecedented audiences in both number and diversity. Serge Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes were unique in the way they incorporated all mediums of the artistic world: choreography, visual arts, music, dance.(2) Its origins were in Russia, as it was the homeland for almost all of the dancers, choreographers, composers, and designers. However, the Ballets Russes never actually performed in Russia itself. After the Revolution of 1905, it became clear to Diaghilev that there would be no hope for any artistic reform in Russia.

So, the Ballets Russes took up its home in Paris, in the spring of 1909. The Ballets Russes, however, did not confine itself to merely the Parisian stage, indeed, its performances took place across three continents, and subsequently, its identity was as varied as was its audiences. The Ballets Russes was a continual experiment in the diversity and potential that are represented in dance.(3) This experiment resulted in new ideas in the realms of theme, movement, set design, music, and costuming. Ideas for these new innovations frequently sprang from artistic endeavors other than dance, such as painting, avant-garde performance, and "new drama". The Ballets Russes, however, did not completely move into a new, undiscovered territory. Choreography was one area where heritage and tradition were not ignored. The company's vernacular included classical steps, syntax, and rhetoric; the Ballets Russes broke the bonds that had originally confined the classicism of the nineteenth century and it new life. The influence of the Ballets Russes was far reaching and its vestiges remain today.

Both the Vic-Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet and the Ballet Theatre ( now the American Ballet Theatre) were founded by members of the Ballets Russes. The undeniable head of this enterprise was Diaghilev, its president from its inception until his death, and the company's in 1929. "He was a man of ferocious will and infinitely discerning taste, encyclopedic knowledge, and passionate curiosity- a Napoleon of the arts and a Renaissance man in one." Beyond the Ballets Russes, Diaghilev also was the editor and founder of the journal Mir Iskusstra, which was an artistic forum, asking for change in every way.4 Along with Diaghilev, founding members such as Alexandre Benois and L�on Bakst implemented a collaborative method, which became the central development behind the company.(5) Two of the early productions of the Ballets Russes were Petrouchka and Les Sylphides . Although both were performed in its first seasons, each represented unique characteristics of the Ballets Russes. Petrouchka was produced in the 1911 season and was created jointly by Igor Stravinsky and Alexandre Benois and set to Stravinsky's score.

The tale takes place in a crowded carnival in St. Petersburg during the 1830s. The scene includes many booths, one of which is owned by a Charlatan who has three dolls: the Dancer, Petrouchka, and a Blackamoor. Each of these dolls has been instilled with human characteristics and the possibility to experience human suffering. When left alone, the dolls act out a human drama. Petrouchka is jealous of the Dancer, while the Dancer is in love with the Blackamoor, who is incredibly narcissistic. As tensions arise between the three characters, they find themselves thrown into the main square of St. Petersburg and there the Blackamoor stabs Petrouchka. After the incident, the Charlatan is confronted by the spirit of the fallen Petrouchka who curses his cruelty of instilling human emotions in the dolls.(6) Petrouchka was choreographed by Michael Fokine and its star was the famous Vaslev Nijinsky . It was a defining production of the Ballets Russes for several reasons. It was the first fundamental tragedy, it possessed authentic folk scenes, its choreography was new and surprising, and the execution of the dance itself was outstanding.

The key to all of this was the unity of the whole artistic work.(7) In contrast to Petrouchka, Les Sylphides did not have a plot at all and was instead a combination of music and ballet without a theme. The music was Chopin's , and Nijinsky, Benois, and Fokine also collaborated. This ballet was centered solely on classical dance and went through five phases: a polonaise, nocturne, mazurka, waltz, and tarantella.(8) This ballet had a unity of dramatic movement and a bold and fluid choreography that changed the character of modern dance.(9) A noted innovation that originated from Les Sylphides was a costume design done by Benois. He created a new, long skirt for dancers that fell well below the knee. This gave a more subtle and feminine appearance and was a movement away from the short, traditional tutus of old.(10) This ballet was created around the very ideals that spurred on the creative fire of the Ballets Russes. It was focused on group unity and collaboration, yet it was also concerned with personal freedom; subsequently its content centered around these ideals.(11) Footnotes: Prince Peter Lieven.

The Birth of the Ballets Russes. Dover Publications, inc: New York, 1963. 153 Lynn Garafola. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1989, vii Ibid., viii Dance and the Ballets Russes Events Film Series Ball BR History 2009 Festival Print About From its legendary first performances in May 1909 at the Theatre du Chatelet, the Ballets Russes did more for Parisian audiences than just present them with new choreography, new music, new stars, and a new performing company. These productions redefined ballet for the twentieth century, reinventing an entire art form that had grown stale elsewhere in Europe. At Russia's Imperial theaters and ballet school, the traditions of ballet, rooted in the court dances of Louis XIV's reign and Italian pantomime were not only preserved, but nurtured and developed further. With extensive financial support from the Tsar's coffers, few corners were cut in the training of dancers, the hiring of choreographic and performing talent, and the staging of productions. It was in St.

Petersburg that all of Diaghilev's great choreographers, and many of his star and corps de ballet dancers were trained. Fokin, Nijinsky, Massine, Nijinska, and Balanchine were all the products of the Imperial Ballet School, and began their dance careers at the Mariinsky theater, as did Karsavina, Pavlova, Danilova, Lopokova and countless others. The first Ballets Russes ballet actually premiered in Russia and had nothing at all to do with Diaghilev. Pavillon d'Armide was the brainchild of the artist, critic and historian Alexandre Benois, an avid balletomane whose grandfather had built the Mariinsky Theater. Benois wrote the libretto of the ballet in 1903 and Nikolai Tcherepnin composed the music to suit the plot, in close consultation with Benois. The ballet was bought by the Mariinsky, but left unstaged until Mikhail Fokin, a brilliant young choreographer and balletmeister there came across it, staging a segment of it as a graduation performance for the students of the Imperial Ballet School.

The success of this performance led to renewed interest in the ballet for the Mariinsky's main stage, and in 1907 Fokin and Benois staged the ballet together, with sets and costumes designed by Alexandre. A scholar of not only art but dance history, Benois worked throughout with Fokin on the stage direction and even choreography of the piece, especially the numbers involving large groups of dancers. Benois' great friend, Diaghilev was present at the opening and was conquered by the performance, finally agreeing with Benois' advice that he should bring not only opera but ballet productions to Paris. Le Pavillon d'Armide demonstrated both Fokin's innovative approach to choreography, and Benois' ideas about collaborative creation in the theater, where he felt directors, designers, composers and performers should work together as one, to achieve aesthetic unity. All this would become the foundation of the Ballets Russes as a company, and would ensure its Parisian success. The Ballets Russes' twenty-year existence can be broken up into approximate choreographic periods.

1909-1914 was the Fokin era, and it was he who not only created most of the company's ballets, but also maintained the troupe as balletmeister. Fokin's seminal choreographic works, performed frequently to this day, include Les Sylphides, Scheherezade, Firebird, Petrushka, and Spectre de la Rose. He also created numerous other productions that are less well known today because the complexities of their staging and the lack of preserved choreography make them difficult to put on, among them are Pavillon d'Armide, Daphnis et Chloe, and Le Coq d'Or. A student of Fokin's from the Imperial Ballet School and star of many of his choreographic compositions, Vaslav Nijinsky, eventually became Diaghilev's choreographic protege. However, he managed to create just three ballets before his 1913 marriage nearly ended his career. Insanely jealous, Diaghilev fired Nijinsky, and re-hired him only briefly in 1916 when Nijinsky danced in the Ballets' North American tour and created one last ballet, Till Eulenspiegel.

Although his work as a choreographer was brief, it was significant; in Prelude a l'apresmidi d'un Faune, Le Sacre du Printemps and Jeux, Nijinsky departed even further than Fokin from the traditional vocabulary of movement, progressing more in the direction of modern dance than in the continuation of ballet tradition resumed by his successor, Leonid Massine. Principal choreographer as well as star dancer after the departure of both Fokin and Nijinsky, Massine led the company from 1915 to 1921. Among his innovative choreographic works of the period were Le Soleil de Nuit, La Boutique Fantastique, and Le Tricorne. When, after years as Diaghilev's lover, Massine declared his independence by marrying and refusing to allow himself to be bullied by his sometimes overbearing boss, he nevertheless remained tied to the Ballets Russes. From 1932 to 1937 he was the chief choreographer of the Colonel de Basil Ballets Russes, a successor company, before leaving with a group of discontented dancers to start his own troupe, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

In the de Basil Ballets, Massine had shared the spotlight with two former colleagues, Bronislava Nijinska and George Balanchine. A brilliant dancer herself, though not so beloved as her elder brother, Nijinska had worked for Diaghilev for over a decade when she finally got her chance to be a choreographer in 1923. Among the pieces she created at the Ballets Russes were Les Noces, Le Train Bleu, and Les Biches. Balanchine was her successor and the company's last major choreographer. After a knee injury effectively ended his performing career in 1926, he concentrated his energies on choreography and by Diaghilev's death in 1929 had created nine ballets, including La Chatte, Apollon Musagete, Le Fils Prodigue and Le Bal. Many of these starred Diaghilev's latest lover, Serge Lifar, who might well have become the next balletmeister if Diaghilev had not died soon after Lifar's first efforts in choreography.

Altogether, the choreographers and dancers of the Ballets Russes overturned many of the static conventions of classical Ballet, and ushered in the era of modern dance while preserving a sense of tradition and the heritage of the Russian ballet school. During the 2009 festival, Boston Ballet will present a new evening program of four of the groundbreaking short ballets from different phases in the aesthetic evolution of the Ballets Russes. First performed in 1911, Le Spectre de la Rose (the Specter of the Rose) is in essence a pas de deux created by Mikhail Fokin specifically for the first two dancers to perform it, Vaslav Nijinsky and Tamara Karsavina. In the ballet, a young girl returns home from her society debut at a ball. She dreams that she dances with the rose she held at the ball, whose specter was danced by Nijinsky, causing quite a sensation. Audiences were particularly enraptured by his final athletic leap out of the girl's window, which ended both the girl's reverie and the ballet itself.

Nijinsky's first choreographic effort, Prelude a l'apresmidi d'un Faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun) was the most controversial performance of the Ballet Russe in 1912, signaling the beginning of a shift towards modernism. In the ballet, Nijinsky completely fulfilled Diaghilev's expectations of a revolutionary and provocative dance. The plot centers on a faun who unsuccessfully flirts with nymphs. When the nymphs run away, leaving behind a scarf belonging to one among them, the faun plays with the scarf ending the ballet with simulated masturbation. Nijinsky's performance as the faun was powerful, virile, and even animalistic, according to some observers, who were mostly shocked by the ballet's overt sexuality, which went far beyond the subtler eroticism of Fokin ballets like Cleopatre and Scheherezade. Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) went even further, in 1913, towards flouting old conventions.

While Fokin's work was stylized and aestheticised, Nijinsky moved towards the primitive, choreographing jerky movements and sharp body angles that reflected Stravinsky's extremely rhythmic and avant-garde score. Once again, sex was the subject, depicting old mythologized Russian fertility rites, which included human sacrifice. The first presentation of the Ballet created such a stir that fights broke out in the audience, which could only be stopped by the eventual arrival of the police. Balanchine's Le Fils Prodigue, (The Prodigal Son) was one of the last productions premiered by the Ballets Russes. Based on the biblical tale, it was more narrative and less abstract than some of Balanchine's other works, reflecting his neoclassical approach to ballet. Mikhail Fokin and Vera Serge Diaghilev-Founder - Russian Ballet History Russian Ballet History Serge Diaghilev (March 13, 1872- August 19, 1929) Serge Diaghilev was a law student when he came to St. Petersburg.

While there he became co-founder of the progressive art magazine Mir Iskusstva (The World of Art) in 1899. The same year he was appointed artistic adviser of the Maryinsky Theatre . He resigned this post in 1901 and when the magazine stopped publishing in 1904, he concentrated on organizing exhibitions of Russian art in St. Petersburg and Paris. In 1908 he brought a production of "Boris Godunov" to Paris, with the famous singer, Feodor Chaliapin . In 1909 he brought to Pari s a season of opera and ballet and, with the best dancers from the Maryinsky , he scored a great success. Prior to 1909 an independent ballet company was almost unheard of. Most ballet companies were part of an opera company or was subsidized by the court or the ruling power. The Paris Opera was the home of the ballet, even in Russia the ballet was part of the opera. In 1909 when Diaghilev decided to bring a small company of dancers to Paris he did this by bringing the great opera star Chaliapin to share the program.

Both people in Russia and Paris thought that he was crazy. Diaghilev struggled to get enough money for his Paris project. After the first season in Paris, he had to raise money again, during the dancers yearly time off. He had to get them back to St. Petrersburg before their season started. After the innagural performance May 19, 1909, repeat visits in the following years resulted in the formation of the Ballets Russes in 1911 as an independent private company. The final season for Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was in 1929. Diaghilev died in Venice, Italy, on August 19, 1929, and is buried on the nearby island of San Michele. Although Diaghilev reformed European ballet, his company was often on the verge of bankruptcy. He never returned to Russia after the 1917 revolution. In fact, Diaghilev's Ballets Russes never performed in Russia. With his infallible flair, and his immaculate taste he anticipated what the audiences wanted.

Instead of a full-length ballets he gave them Aurora's Wedding, and the second act of Swan Lake, Les Sylphides , La Boutique Fantastique, Les Biches, Jeux , and many more. Video of Diaghilev for His Birthday Reminiscing on Serge de Diaghilev Diaghilev's Timeline of Accomplishments 1899 Diaghilev founded the magazine Mir Isskoustva (World of Art). It ran for six years. 1900-1901 Diaghilev was the Editor-n-Chief of the Annual Report of the Imperial Theatres 1904 Diaghilev published a study of the painter, Dmitri Levitzky, who won the Uvarov Grand Prize 1905 Diaghilev was appointed to organize a historical exhibition of Russian painters in Paris shown at the Fall Salon in the Grand Palais. 1907 Diaghilev organized Concerts Historiques Russes with Rimsky-Korsakov, Glazounov, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and Nikisch among others. It was at these concerts, that Chaliapin made his Paris debut.

1908 Diaghilev produced Moussorgsky’s Boris Godunov at the Paris Opera for the first time outside of Russia, with Chaliapin, Smirnov, conductor Blumenfeldt and the chorus of the Imperial Theatre of Moscow. 1909 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes premiered at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris with Pavlova, Nijinaky, Mordkin, Karsavina and Fokine. The program included the first act of Glinka’s Russlan and Ludmila, the third act of Borodin’s Prince Igor, Les Sylphides, Cleopatre. That same year he commissioned Daphnis et Chloe from Ravel and Firebird from Stravinsky. 1910 Was Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season at Paris Opera. 1910 Was Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ s first season in Berlin which included Firebird, Scheherazade, Spectre de la Rose and Carnaval. 1910 Diaghilev commissioned Petrouchka from Stravinsky.

1911 Was Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season in Rome at the International Exposition, and their 3rd season in Paris at Theatre du Chatelet, premiered Petrouchka and Spectre de la Rose. 1911 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ first season in London at Covent Gardens, opening during the coronation of King George V. 1911 Diaghilev commissioned Le Sacre du Primtemps from Stravinsky. 1912 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ 4th season in Paris, at Theatre du Chatelet with Daphnis et Chloe, L’Apres Midi d’un Faune. 1912 Diaghilev commissioned Jeux from Debussy 1913 Russian season of opera and ballet at Theatre des Champs-Elysees, with Le Sacre du Printemps, Jeux. 1913 In the autumn, Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes debuted in Latin America. 1913 Diaghilev commissioned The Legend of Joseph from Richard Strauss.

1912 -1914 Diaghilev produced London’s Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatre’s seasons of Russian opera and ballet, including Chaliapin’s first appearance in London. 1914 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes season at Paris Opera included Coq d’or and the Legend of Joseph with Strauss conducting. 1915 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes performed a benefit gala at Paris Opera with The Midnight Sun. 1915 Diaghilev brought Prokofiev to Rome and commissioned him to compose Chout (Le Bouffon) 1916 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ first half of its only tour of the United States, opening at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. 1916 Diaghilev’s Ballets Ruses first tour of Madrid, on command of King Alfonso XIII 1916 Diaghilev commissioned Parade from Satie and Picasso and another The Three Cornered Hat from de Falla. 1916-1917 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ second half of the United States Tour, headed by Nijinsky.

1917 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season at the Rome Opera and Theatre du Chatelet in Paris with The Good-Humored Ladies and Parade. 1917 Sept. 26 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ 2nd tour in Latin America and final appearance of Nijinsky with the Ballets Russes. 1917 Diaghilev commissioned Stravinsky for Le Chant du Rossignol. 1917-1918 Diaghilev assembles musical fragments of Cimarosa, Paisello and Pergolesi, into Pulcinella, for the arrangement he commissioned from Stravinsky. 1918 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes season in London lasting fifty-five weeks, from August 1918 – December 1919 1920 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season at London’s Covent Garden. 1920 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ three seasons in Paris; January-February; the second, May-July, at Paris Opera (Chant du Rossignol, H.

Matisse; Pulcinella, The Three Cornered-Hat, Picassso; Boutique Fantasque, A. Derain) and in December the final season at Theatre des Champs-Elysees. 1921 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season in Paris, at the Gaite-Lyrique (Le Bouffon, Cuadro Flamenco, Picasso) 1921 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes’ season in London, June-July. 1921 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes performed the full, uncut version of Sleeping Beauty for the first time abroad. One hundred and fifteen consecutive performances. It also marked Spessivitzeva’s first appearance in London. 1922 Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes season in Paris at Paris Opera. 1922 Diaghilev commissioned Poulenc for Les Biches to be choreographed by Bronislava Nijinska, Auric for Les Facheur, and Satie and Prokofiev for new ballets.

Sergei Denham - Director of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Sergei Denham (1897 - 1970) was born in Moscow. He was vice-president of the American corporation which ran the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. When Massine departed from Colonel de Basil's Ballet Russe, a reorganization of the company occurred - - leaving Denham as director for 24 years. Suggested Reading

Question: Who founded the 'Ballet Russes' in 1909?
Answer: SERGEI DIAGHILEV